CES 2018: Sony CCB-WD1—A Control Box for Big Rigs Made from Tiny Cameras

The diminutive Sony RX0 heralded Sony's entrance into the professional action/POV/utility camera market. This year at CES, Sony continues to innovate in that same area with the announcement of the CCB-WD1 Camera Control Box.

While the name of the device may be on the technical side, it opens a wide array of functions for the RX0. Essentially, the CCB-WD1 acts as an interface for browser-based PC control and data transfer over a wired Ethernet network. Up to 100 cameras can be controlled with a single PC on the same network, enabling large rigs to be constructed for the capture of specialty photography sequences, such as bullet-time or virtual reality, if each RX0 has its own Control Box. Despite the size of the rigs, all the cameras are synced and controlled from a single point on the network. Ethernet connectivity functions include start/stop triggering, frame synchronization between connected cameras, video feedback, and file transfer. The precision of the link is enough to allow for reliable camera stitching for special-effects sequences. Physically, the Control Box shares roughly the same dimensions as the RX0, meaning it won't take up much space on large rigs, a must for compact placement on bullet-time rigs.

For more information on Sony's RX0 or CCB-WD1, be sure to check out the B&H website, which will be updated with pricing and product availability. CES 2018 coverage continues, on the B&H Explora blog, be sure to check it out!